Bill would ban license plate flippers

From staff and wire reports :
April 25, 2013

AUSTIN — Spy movies aside, Sen. Carlos Uresti said there's no good reason to have a license-plate flipper. So he's working to ban the devices, which allow drivers to quickly flip from one plate to another, presumably to prevent a car from being identified.

The Texas Senate approved the San Antonio Democrat's bill to make it a misdemeanor to make or have a flipper with a vote of 28-0. Senate Bill 1757 goes to the House for consideration.

The bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor to manufacture, sell, offer to sell or otherwise distribute a license plate flipper with criminal negligence. It would be a Class B misdemeanor to buy or possess a flipper with criminal negligence.

Uresti said there is a particular concern about the devices being used by gangs, drug dealers and smugglers and about the implications for security when cars cross the border.

“This device serves no good purpose for anyone,” Uresti said, noting the Bexar County district attorney's office brought the issue to his attention.

Bills aimed at helping

sex-assault victims

Texas lawmakers are advancing new protections for victims of sexual assault, along with the money to start investigating older cases.

The Senate on Thursday approved a measure that would give victims the right to track the physical evidence as it is submitted for lab analysis.

SB 1192 still must pass the House.

Another proposal emerged from the Senate Criminal Justice Committee earlier this week. SB 1191 would require hospitals to gather physical evidence from victims or provide a transfer to a different hospital.

Bill targeting mail-in ballots stirs partisan emotions

A proposal to criminalize “ballot harvesting” of mail-in votes roiled partisan tensions in the Texas House on Thursday and shattered a truce between Republicans and Democrats this session that had largely averted divisive voting rights measures.

The bill targets what Republicans say is rife with potential voting fraud: political individuals or groups that collect and mail completed early ballots. They typically seek out voters who need help, such as the disabled or those living in assisted residences.

Critics say the practice preys on a vulnerable population and invites the risk of votes being changed, coerced or trashed altogether on the way to the mailbox.

A bill by Republican state Rep. Cindy Burkett caps the number of ballots an individual could mail at 10.

Her proposal won preliminary passage in the House following more than two hours of sometimes confrontational debate.

The bill still needs final clearance in the House before moving to the Senate.

They said it

“We're trying to keep people from voting, and that is wrong. We should have a constitutional right to request who takes that ballot from us.” — Democratic state Rep. Terry Canales, protesting a Republican-sponsored bill that would set limits on the number of mail-in votes that could be collected by “ballot harvesters.”